In this unique publication, Marilyn and John Neuhart tell the story, to paraphrase Charles Eames himself, of how Eames furniture got to be the way it is. The Story of Eames Furniture is a biography —not of an individual person, but of arguably the most influential and important furniture brand of our time. Brimming with more than 2,500 images and insider information, this two-volume book in a slipcase sheds new light on the context in which the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames was created. It documents in unparalleled detail how the design process in the Eames Office developed as well as the significant roles played by specific designers and manufacturers. Volume 1 presents the early years of the Eames Office and its method of furniture design and development. It introduces not only Charles and Ray Eames, but also key members of their design team including Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Herbert Matter, and others —a widely diverse group of people who did the day-by-day work on the furniture projects and who together ultimately turned contemporary design in a new direction. This volume also focuses on Charles Eames’s early work with plywood and how he adapted plywood-molding techniques into a system to mass-produce furniture. Volume 2 features the period from the aftermath of the Second World War through 1978, the year of Charles Eames’s death and of the effective, functional end of the Eames Office. By explaining the pioneering industrial processes used with innovative materials such as fiberglass, wire, and aluminum, it provides incomparable insight into how new technologies served as the genesis for the most interesting pieces of Eames furniture. This volume also focuses on the role of the Herman Miller Furniture Company in the evolution of furniture design at the Eames Office and investigates the influence of Don Albinson, who was Charles Eames’s primary designer and technician from the mid-1940s to 1960. The Story of Eames Furniture celebrates Charles Eames’s vanguard cultural achievement of giving modern society the opportunity of materializing its identity through furniture design that, even today, still tops bestseller lists and has not lost any of its original elegance, timelessness, freshness, and quality. We ought to be grateful that instead of the hagiography we might expect of such a sumptuous book, it presents the warts-and-all view from inside the studio... By giving the Eames Office rank and file their curtain call, it usefully explodes idea of the designer as a solitary genius, which has always been a myth. --Justin McGuirk, The Guardian A good old-fashioned design book... The result is a design geek s dream. Packed with information and insights on the development of every piece of furniture produced by the Eames Office, it is filled with product shots, technical drawings, advertisements, magazine and newspaper clippings, snapshots, profiles of the Eames s collaborators and employees, and anecdotes. --Alice Rawsthorn, The New York Times online edition This book has been put together with almost the same attention to detail as a piece of Eames furniture! --Jasper Morrison This is my favorite design book of 2010. Yes, it's huge!...The quality and quantity of records is extraordinary. --Bill Moggridge, Director of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum This book has been put together with almost the same attention to detail as a piece of Eames furniture! --Jasper Morrison The Story of Eames Furniture was written and designed by Marilyn Neuhart together with her husband John. Both have worked with the Eames Office in various capacities from the 1950s until 1978, the year of Charles Eames s death. In working with Charles and Ray Eames for over 30 years, and having the extraordinary opportunity to be in close proximity with the members of the Eames Office and their patron manufacturers, Marilyn and John Neuhart have absorbed their stories and meticulously portrays the history and development of Eames furniture. This book is a firsthand account of the Eames Office from within and based on recollections of the Neuharts and those who worked closely with Charles Eames. More familiar with the material and protagonists than almost any other, Marilyn Neuhart has spent the last 15 years compiling the stories, images, and recollections featured in this book. Hardcover: 798 pages Publisher: Gestalten Verlag (November 15, 2010) Language: English Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 10.6 x 3.6 inches Shipping Weight: 13.6 pounds